diff --git a/vcr/cassette.py b/vcr/cassette.py
index 5822afa..107e5d7 100644
--- a/vcr/cassette.py
+++ b/vcr/cassette.py
@@ -197,6 +197,7 @@ class Cassette:
         custom_patches=(),
         inject=False,
         allow_playback_repeats=False,
+        drop_unused_requests=False,
     ):
         self._persister = persister or FilesystemPersister
         self._path = path
@@ -209,6 +210,7 @@ class Cassette:
         self.record_mode = record_mode
         self.custom_patches = custom_patches
         self.allow_playback_repeats = allow_playback_repeats
+        self.drop_unused_requests = drop_unused_requests
 
         # self.data is the list of (req, resp) tuples
         self.data = []
@@ -216,6 +218,10 @@ class Cassette:
         self.dirty = False
         self.rewound = False
 
+        # Subsets of self.data to store old and played interactions
+        self._old_interactions = []
+        self._played_interactions = []
+
     @property
     def play_count(self):
         return sum(self.play_counts.values())
@@ -277,6 +283,7 @@ class Cassette:
         for index, response in self._responses(request):
             if self.play_counts[index] == 0 or self.allow_playback_repeats:
                 self.play_counts[index] += 1
+                self._played_interactions.append((request, response))
                 return response
         # The cassette doesn't contain the request asked for.
         raise UnhandledHTTPRequestError(
@@ -337,10 +344,27 @@ class Cassette:
 
         return final_best_matches
 
+    def _new_interactions(self):
+        """List of new HTTP interactions (request/response tuples)"""
+        new_interactions = []
+        for request, response in self.data:
+            if all(not requests_match(request, old_request, self._match_on)
+                   for old_request, _ in self._old_interactions):
+                new_interactions.append((request, response))
+        return new_interactions
+
     def _as_dict(self):
-        return {"requests": self.requests, "responses": self.responses}
+        requests = self.requests
+        responses = self.responses
+        if self.drop_unused_requests:
+            interactions = self._played_interactions + self._new_interactions()
+            requests = [request for request, _ in interactions]
+            responses = [response for _, response in interactions]
+        return {"requests": requests, "responses": responses}
 
     def _save(self, force=False):
+        if (len(self._played_interactions) < len(self._old_interactions)):
+            force = True
         if force or self.dirty:
             self._persister.save_cassette(self._path, self._as_dict(), serializer=self._serializer)
             self.dirty = False
@@ -350,6 +374,7 @@ class Cassette:
             requests, responses = self._persister.load_cassette(self._path, serializer=self._serializer)
             for request, response in zip(requests, responses):
                 self.append(request, response)
+                self._old_interactions.append((request, response))
             self.dirty = False
             self.rewound = True
         except ValueError:
diff --git a/vcr/config.py b/vcr/config.py
index a991c95..7139bd3 100644
--- a/vcr/config.py
+++ b/vcr/config.py
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ class VCR:
         func_path_generator=None,
         decode_compressed_response=False,
         record_on_exception=True,
+        drop_unused_requests=False,
     ):
         self.serializer = serializer
         self.match_on = match_on
@@ -83,6 +84,7 @@ class VCR:
         self.decode_compressed_response = decode_compressed_response
         self.record_on_exception = record_on_exception
         self._custom_patches = tuple(custom_patches)
+        self.drop_unused_requests = drop_unused_requests
 
     def _get_serializer(self, serializer_name):
         try:
@@ -153,6 +155,7 @@ class VCR:
             "func_path_generator": func_path_generator,
             "allow_playback_repeats": kwargs.get("allow_playback_repeats", False),
             "record_on_exception": record_on_exception,
+            "drop_unused_requests": kwargs.get("drop_unused_requests", self.drop_unused_requests),
         }
         path = kwargs.get("path")
         if path: